Governmental Oppression in the Digital Age Doesn’t Fly on the World Stage

YouTube has created a special section of their site specifically for Iranian citizens to upload videos of governmental oppression (in case you’ve been living under a rock, here’s a link to stories regarding what’s going in in Iran right now).

*Warning* – quick disclaimer: if you choose to peruse the channel, some of the videos you’ll encounter are extremely graphic. People are being killed in Iran, and the bullets are very real.

My thoughts: what’s going on in Iran right now is horrible. I hope things are resolved without too much more bloodshed, but I’m not too optimistic that they will be.

What’s very interesting to me is the role technology is playing in this situation.

Here we see the internet, a technology invented in the United States (NOT by Al Gore), intentionally created to be decentralized, unregulated, and easily accessed, fueling a revolution in Iran.

World leaders and citizens alike are watching the same videos on YouTube, and no one is left unaffected by the images they’re seeing. Everyone has an opinion – some more vocal than the others, but EVERYONE is seeing these images – some that will stick with us for a very long time. They’re shocking and sad …

Many moral people have argued for governmental regulation of the internet because of things like the prevalence of porn and other malicious content (like, instructions on how to build a bomb – don’t get any ideas, kids), but here we see the decentralized, unregulated nature of the web being used for something good.

Does the good outweigh the bad? Time will tell I suppose, but I, for one, am not going to complain too much in the meantime. I see too much good happening.

I’m impressed with YouTube – thumbs up!

-Wes

P.S. – Totally unrelated, but make a note to yourself: don’t sell weed, but if you do for some stupid reason, DON’T SELL IT ON CRAIGSLIST!

Yeah, governmental oppression in the digital age doesn’t fly on the world stage, and neither does selling pot on Craigslist.